iEARN IN ACTION #245, News Flash, March 16, 2009

18 March 2009

————————————————————

SEEKING PARTNERS: iEARN PROJECTS AND ACTIVITIES

Download the 2008-2009 iEARN Project Book in English or Spanish at: http://www.iearn.org/projects/projectbook.html

For a full listing of iEARN projects, see: http://media.iearn.org/projects/

————————————————————

1. INTERESTED IN CONNECTING WITH OTHER FUTURE TEACHERS/PRE-SERVICE TEACHERS? Shouldn’t teacher training students get involved in the power of the iEARN network and its projects already during their training? Those teacher trainers (or those who are in contact with teacher trainers) who are curious or already recognize the great possibilities to get our future teachers involved in iEARN, please contact Roland Kok (iEARN-Netherlands) by e-mail: roland.kok@han.nl.

2. SHARE YOUR ELECTRONIC SCHOOL MAGAZINE. Do you have a school or class newspaper or magazine to share with global peers? Share your publication, and read and respond to others, including a recent contribution from Morocco. Read more and connect to the EMagazine Forum via http://media.iearn.org/projects/emagazine



3. WHAT IS THE ROLE AND STATUS OF WOMEN IN YOUR COUNTRY? Join educators and youth from Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kenya, Lebanon, Morocco, and the USA currently discussing the role of women in culture and politics in their countries. Connect to the Women in My Country Forum via http://media.iearn.org/projects/women

4. TEDDY BEAR PROJECT LOOKING FOR PARTNERS.  A technical glitch has removed the registrations submitted by teachers with students aged 5-7 years old who are seeking Teddy Bear Project partners. If you teach this age (or even other ages) and want to be matched with a school in another country for this popular project, register at: http://foro.iearn.org/.1debd9ce/  For more about the project, see https://media.iearn.org/projects/teddybear

5. CLASS IN AZERBAIJAN SENDS “HAPPY NOVRUZ” GREETINGS IN MY COUNTRY PROJECT.  Arzu Mammadova, an educator in Azerbaijan, writes,  “I am also an English teacher from Azerbaijan, in the Ismailli Region at School #5. Here is a picture of my 7thA form celebrating Novruz. The children wrote the word “iEARN” from the wheat grass. It took two weeks for the wheat seeds to sprout and grow grass. Now they want to show you. In my mind you will like the picture.” http://media.iearn.org/v/Activities/mycountry/xxxx0651_xxx.html  Learn more about the project at http://media.iearn.org/projects/mycountry

6. PEARL ONLINE JOURNALISM FESTIVAL IN APRIL.  Secondary school students are invited to join PEARL’s global team to report on issues that matter to young people. Teams of PEARL Reporters and new students will work together in April to produce multimedia stories. All new participants will receive certification as PEARL Reporters. Based on a vote by participants and readers, students from five teams will receive FLIP Ultra cameras – and one team will be invited to attend iEARN’s international conference in Morocco. Please contact Anindita Dutta Roy at anindita@us.iearn.org as soon as possible! For more about the PEARL Program, see http://pearl.iearn.org.

7. SOLAR COOKING PROJECT.  Participants are invited to experiment with alternative energy uses by making, testing and using solar cookers. Recipes, construction tips, experiments and research findings will be shared on line and compiled on a web site. Students from Kenya, Qatar and the USA are currently busy creating solar cookers to share in the project. For more info, see http://media.iearn.org/projects/solarcooking

8. JOIN THE CALLIGRAPHY PROJECT.  A project inviting students to discover and engage in reviving the ancient art of Calligraphy by producing, sharing and appreciating this art form. See a new video by teachers and students in Pakistan. http://media.iearn.org/v/Activities/calligraphy/xoviex0001.wmv.html  For more about the project, and to link to the forum, see http://media.iearn.org/projects/calligraphy

9. SCOUTS IN SYRIA JOIN iEARN.  Starting in Feburary 2009, iEARN-Syria Coordinator Samah Al Jundi has been working with the Scout Club of Lattakia, Syria to enable the Scouts to gain goal-setting and life skills through participating in global projects. Initially, scouts have been working in the iQuote http://media.iearn.org/projects/iquote and A Vision http://media.iearn.org/projects/avision projects. The effort is supported by the Global Connections and Exchange Program of the US Dept. of State.

10. NEW PROJECT PROPOSAL: MAGICAL MOMENTS AROUND THE WORLD.   In this project, students from around the world unite in sharing their magical moments in a global online book. Showing youth that their personal magical moment is part of a human web that transcends borders is of incredible human value. And promotes values such as compassion and tolerance. Questions? Contact Gal Kleinman in Israel at contact@magicalmoment.net

————————————————————

CHECK IT OUT! RESOURCES, CONTESTS,

WEBSITES, ANNOUNCEMENTS

————————————————————

11. ADOBE YOUTH VOICES. View and share feedback on new video works-in-progress from young people in Pakistan. Video drafts are featured in the Media Spotlight on http://media.iearn.org/ayv/gallery.

12. LEARNING CIRCLES IN THEIR 14th YEAR IN iEARN. Learning Circles ( http://www.iearn.org/circles ) continue to be a popular project format for teachers around the world. For example, here are the countries currently represented in the Circles that started in February 2009:

Places and Perspectives (Secondary) – Zimbabwe, Niger, USA, Netherlands, Liberia, Slovenia

Places and Perspectives (Primary) – USA, Morocco, Australia, Canada

Places and Perspectives: (Middle-1) – USA, Russia, UAE, Canada, Belarus, Australia

Places and Perspectives (Middle-2) Russia, Romania, USA, Pakistan

Mind Works (Secondary) – Azerbaijan, Tunisia, USA, Georgia, Trinidad, Kenya

Mind Works (Middle) – India, Ukraine, USA, Saudi Arabia, Romania, Iraq, Australia

My Hero (Middle) – Canada, USA, Iraq, Russia, Romania, Belarus, Slovenia

My Hero (Secondary) – Canada, USA, Russia, Belarus, Burkina Faso, Thailand, Romania, Kenya

My Hero (Primary) – Canada, USA, Ukraine

Bat Chen – USA, Ukraine, Russia, Azerbaijan

13. GLOBE AT NIGHT 2009, MARCH 16-28. Participate in an annual global sky observation known as GLOBE at Night. GLOBE at Night brings people outside to observe the constellation Orion from 16-28 March 2009. This event is part of the International Year of Astronomy. IYA celebrates the 400th anniversary of Galileo’s first use of a telescope to observe the sky. Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment, also known as GLOBE, is a worldwide, hands-on science and education program for primary and secondary schools. For more information about the event, visit http://www.globe.gov/GaN/

14. J8 YOUTH SUMMIT IN ITALY. J8 is a unique chance for young people aged 14 -17 to explore world issues, develop proposals and solutions and to present their views and recommendations to world leaders at the G8 summit. Full information and the Terms and Conditions of the competition can be found at: www.unicef.org.uk/youthvoice/j8 . The closing date for the competition will be April 8th 2009. For further information or queries about the competition, contact Alice Bottini-Hall at j8@unicef.org.uk .

—————————

UPCOMING EVENTS

—————————

15. iEARN WORKSHOP IN FREETOWN, SIERRA LEONE, MARCH 16-18. Send greetings to new participants in Sierra Leone who are attending a workshop made possible as part of the Global Connections and Exchange Program of the US Dept. of State. See a workshop photo http://media.iearn.org/v/Activities/teachers/iearnsierraleoneworkshop.html and greet them in the Teachers Forum http://foro.iearn.org/.1ead48bf

16. YouthCaN ENVIRONMENTAL CONFERENCE SCHEDULED FOR APRIL 4-6, 2009 IN NYC, USA. The annual event will be hosted at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, USA. In addition to participants from the USA, educators from India, Nepal, and Bangladesh, will attend to share their students’ work with the Four Rivers, One World Project, and educators from Uzbekistan and Pakistan will present their digital public service announcements addressing natural disaster preparedness. See http://www.youthcanworld.org for details of this and other YouthCaN events happening around the world. YouthCaN is a year-round network within iEARN of students using telecommunications for environmental project work. Join the YouthCaN forum – http://media.iearn.org/projects/youthcan

17. iEARN-MOROCCO (MEARN) TO HOST 16th ANNUAL iEARN CONFERENCE AND 13TH YOUTH SUMMIT, JULY 19-25, 2009 IN IFRANE, MOROCCO. “Innovative Technologies and Cross Cultural Dialogue For Quality Education.” http://www.iearn2009.ma/

RECENT EVENTS

18. ROTA ORGANISES SPRING 2009 iEARN WORKSHOPS IN QATAR. Workshops were featured in The Penninsula. March 11, 2009. See more at http://tinyurl.com/d27djs

19. iEARN-OMAN WORKSHOP, MARCH 1, 2009. Facilitated by Issa Khalfan, iEARN-Oman Coordinator, and Anindita Dutta Roy, iEARN-USA. Meet them in the Teachers Forum. http://foro.iearn.org/.1ead0e62

20. iEARN-YEMEN HOSTS GLOBAL CONNECTIONS AND EXCHANGE WORKSHOPS, FEBRUARY 9-10 AND 18-19. Workshops took place in two cities, Sana’a and Aden, and involved 40 teachers and 39 students from 4 schools. The workshops were supervised by SOUL organization for women and children development.

————————————————————-

FOR REFERENCE!

* Past Newsflashes are saved in the Forum: News http://foro.iearn.org/iearnforums/news/

* Spanish translations are also available on: http://foro.iearn.org/iearnforums/boletin/.

————————————————————-

TO SUBMIT AN ANNOUNCEMENT FOR THE NEWSFLASH: Send your announcement (2-3 lines) to newsflash@us.iearn.org.

————————————————————-

iEARN (International Education and Resource Network) is a global non-profit network that empowers teachers and students to undertake projects designed to make a meaningful contribution to the health and welfare of the planet and its people. Started in 1988, iEARN is currently active in over 125 countries, with 1,000,000 students participating as part of their education. iEARN-International: http://www.iearn.org

————————————————————-